17 - Beacon Lights of History - European Leaders by John Lord

Join Dr. Lord in this captivating installment of the European Leaders series, where he delves into the lives and legacies of influential figures such as William IV, Sir Robert Peel, Cavour, Czar Nicholas, Louis Napoleon, Prince Bismarck, and William Ewart Gladstone. Discover the pivotal moments that shaped Europe through the stories of these remarkable leaders. (Summary by KHand)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section seventeen of Beacon Lights of History, Volume ten, European
Leaders by John Lord. This LibriVox recording is in the
public domain. Recording by k Hand Prince Bismarck, Part four.
Bismarck's rewards for his great services were magnificent, quite equal
to those of Wellington or Marlborough. He received another valuable estate,

(00:23):
this time from his sovereign, which gift made him one
of the greatest landed proprietors of Prussia. He was created
a prince, He was decorated with the principal orders of Europe.
He had augmented power as Chancellor of Confederated Germany. He
was virtual dictator of his country, which he absolutely ruled
in the name of a wearied old man past seventy

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years of age. But the minister's labors and vexations do
not end with the Franco German War. During the years
that immediately follow he is still one of the hardest
worked men in Europe. He receives one thousand letters and
telegrams a day. He has to manage an unpracticable legislative assembly,
clamorous for new privileges, and attend to the complicated affairs

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of a great empire and direct his diplomatic agents in
every country of Europe. He finds that the sanctum of
a one man power is not a bed of roses.
Sometimes he seeks rest and recreation on one of his estates,
but labors and public duties follow him wherever he goes.
He is too busy and preoccupied even for pleasure, unless
he is hunting boars and stags. He seems to care

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but little for art of any kind, except music. But
once in his life has he ever visited the Museum
of Berlin. He never goes to the theater. He appears
as little as possible in the streets, but when recognized,
he is stared at as a wonder. He lives hospitably,
but plainly, and in a palace with few ornaments or luxuries.
He enshrouds himself in mystery, but not in gloom. Few

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dare approach him, for his manners are brusque and rough,
and he has feared more even than he is honored.
His aspect is stern and haughty, except when he occasionally unbends.
In his family he is simple, frank, and domestic, But
in public he is the cold and imperative dictator, even
the royal family are uncomfortable in his commanding and majestic presence.

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Everybody stands in awe of him, but his wife and children.
He caresses only his dogs. He eats but once a day,
but his meal is enough for five men. He drinks
a quart of beer or wine without taking the cup
from his mouth. He smokes incessantly, generally a long Turkish pipe.
He sleeps irregularly, disturbed by thoughts which fill his troubled brain.

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Honored is the man who is invited to his table,
even if he be the ambassador of a king. For
at table, the host is frank and courteous, and not overbearing,
like a literary dictator. He is well read in history,
but not in art, or science or poetry. His stories
are admirable. When he is in convivial mood, all sit
round him in silent admiration, for no one dares more

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than suggest the topic. He does all the talking himself.
Bayard Taylor, when United States Minister at Berlin, was amazed
and confounded by his freedom of speech and apparent candor.
He is frank in matters, he does not care to conceal,
and simple as a child when not disputed or withstood,
but when opposed, fierce as a lion, a spoiled man

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of success, yet not intoxicated with power, haughty and irritable perhaps,
but never vain, like a French statesman in office, a
webster rather than a tiers. Such was the man who
ruled the German Empire with an iron hand for twenty
years or more, the more remarkable man of power known
to history for seventy five years, a mortal like cavour,

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and for his services even more than his abilities, he
had raised Prussia to the front rank among nations and
created German unity. He had quietly affected more than Richelieu
ever aspired to perform. For Richelieu sought only to build
up a great throne, while Bismarck had united a great
nation in patriotic devotion to fatherland, which, so far as
we can see, is as invincible as it is enlightened,

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enlightened in everything except accept democratic ideas. I will not
dwell on the career and character of Prince Bismarck since
the Franco Prussian War. After that, he was not identified
with any great national movements which command universal interests. His
labors were principally confined to German affairs, quarrels with the
reich Stag, settlement of difficulties with the various states of

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the Germanic Confederation, the consolidation of the internal affairs of
the Empire, while he cared on diplomatic relations with other
great powers, efforts to gain the good will of Russia
and secure the general peace of Europe. These, in a
multitude of other questions too recent to be called historical,
he dealt with, in all of which his autocratic sympathies
called out the censures of the advocates of greater liberty

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and diminished his popularity. For twenty years, his will was
the law of the German Confederation. Though bitterly opposed at
times by the liberals, he was always sustained by his
imperial master, who threw the burdens of state on his
herculean shoulders, sometimes too great to bear with. Placidity policy
was then less severely criticized than his domestic which was

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alternate success and failure. The war which he raged with
the Spiritual Power, was perhaps the most important event of
his administration, and in which he had not altogether his
own way, under rating, as is natural to such a man,
Spiritual forces as compared with material. In his memorable quarrel
with Rome, he appeared to the least advantage at first, rigid,

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severe and arbitrary with a Catholic clergy, even to persecution,
driving away the Jesuits eighteen seventy two, shutting up schools
and churches, imprisoning and finding ecclesiastical dignitaries intolerant in some
cases as the Inquisition itself. One fourth of the people
of the Empire are Catholics, yet he sternly sought to
suppress the religious rights and liberties as they regarded them,

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thinking he could control them by material penalties, such as
taking away their support and shutting them up in prison.
Forgetting that conscientious Christians, whether Catholics or Protestants, will, in
matters of religion, defy the mighty rulers. No doubt, the
policy of the Catholics of Germany was extremely irritating to
a despotic ruler who would exalt the temporal over the

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spiritual power. And equally true was it that the Pope
himself was unyielding in regard to the liberties of his church,
demanding everything and giving back nothing in accordance with the
uniform traditions of papal domination. The Catholics the world over
look upon the education of their children as a thing
to be superintended by their own religious teachers, as their

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inalienable right and imperative duty, and any state interference with
this right and this duty they regard as religious persecution
to which they will never submit without hostility and relentless defiance.
Bismarck felt that to concede to the demands which the
Catholic clergy have ever made in respect to religious privileges
was to go to Kenosa, where Henry, the fourth Emperor

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of Germany in ten seventy seven humiliated himself before Pope
Gregory the seventh in order to gain absolution. Thelongsighted and
experience Amainst Tiers remarked that here Bismarck was on the
wrong track and would be compelled to retreat with all
his power. Bismarck was too wise a man to persist
in attempting impossibilities, and after a bitter fight he became conciliatory.

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He did not go to Kenosa, but he yielded to
the dictates of patriotism and enlightened policy, and the quarrel
was patched up. His long struggles with the Catholics told
upon his health and spirits, and he was obliged to
seek long periods of rest and recreation on his estates,
sometimes under great embarrassments and irritations, threatening to resign, to

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which his imperial master, grateful and dependent, would never, under
any circumstances, consent. But the Prince President of the Ministers
and Chancellor of the Empire was loaded down with duties
in his cabinet, in his office and in the Parliament
most onerous tibear in which no other man in Germany
was equal to. His burdens, at times were intolerable, His

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labors were prodigious, and the opposition he met with was
extremely irritating to a man accustomed to have his own
way in everything. Another thing gave him great solicitude, taxed
to the utmost his fertile brain. And that was the
rising and widespreading doctrines of socialism, which was to Germany
what Nihilism is to Russia and Fenianism was to Ireland,

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based on discontent, unbelief, and desperate schemes of unpractical reform,
leading to the assassination even of emperors themselves. How to
deal with this terrible foe to all governments, all laws,
and all institutions was a most perplexing question. At first,
he was inclined to the most rigorous measures, to a
war of utter extermination. But how could he deal with

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the enemies he could neither see nor find, omnipresent and
invisible and unscrupulous as satanic furies, fanatics whom no reasoning
could touch, and no laws control, whether human or divine.
As experience and thought enlarged his mental vision, he came
to the conclusion that the real source and spring of
that secret and organized hostility which he deplored but unable

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to reach and to punish, were evils in the government,
and evils in the structure of society, aggravating in equality,
grinding poverty, ignorance, and the hard struggle for life. Accordingly,
he devoted his energies to improve the general condition of
the people and make the struggle for life easier. In
his desire to equalize burdens, he resorted to indirect rather

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than direct taxation, to high tariffs and protective duties to
develop German industry, throwing to the winds his earlier beliefs
in the theories of the Manchester School of Political Economy,
and all speculative ideas as to the blessings of free
trade for the universe. In general. He bought for the
government the various Prussian railroads in order to have uniformity
of rates and remove vexatious discriminations which only a central

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power could effect. In short, he aimed to develop the
material resources of the country, both to ensure financial prosperity
and to remove those burdens which press heavily on the poor.
On one point, however, his policy was inexorable, and that
was to suffer no wa reduction of the army, but
rather to increase it to the utmost extent that the
nation could bear, not with the view of future conquests

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or a military aggrandizement, as some thought, but as an
impressive necessity to guard the empire from all hostile attacks,
whether from France or Russia or both combined. A country
surrounded with enemies, as Germany is in the center of Europe,
without the natural defenses of the sea which England enjoys,
or great chains of mountains on her borders, difficult to
penetrate and easy to defend, as is the case with Switzerland,

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must have a superior military force to defend her in
case of future contingencies which no human wisdom can foresee.
Nor is it such a dreadful burden to support a
peace establishment of four hundred and fifty thousand men, as
some think, one soldier for every one hundred inhabitants, trained
and discipline to be intelligent and industrious, when his short
term of three years of active service shall have expired.

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Much easier to bear, I fancy than the burden of
supporting five paupers or more to every hundred inhabitants, as
in England and Scotland. In eighteen eighty eight, Bismarck made
a famous speech in the Reichstag to show the necessity
of Prussia's being armed. He had no immediate fears of Russia,
he said. He professed to believe that she would keep
peace with Germany. But he spoke of numerous distinct crises

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within forty years when Prussia was on the verge of
being drawn into a general European war, which diplomacy fortunately averted,
and such as now must be warded off by being
too strong for attack. He mentioned the Crimean War in
eighteen fifty three, the Italian War, in eighteen fifty eight,
the Polish rebellion in eighteen sixty three, the Schweiswig Holstein Embroilment,

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which so neatly set all Europe by the ears, the
Austro Prussian War of eighteen sixty six, the Luxembourg Dispute
in eighteen sixty seven, the Franco German War of eighteen seventy,
the Balkan War of eighteen seventy seven, the various aspects
of the Eastern Question, changes of government in France, et cetera,
each of which in its time threatened the Great Coalition War,

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which Germany had thus far been kept out of, but
which Bismarck wished to provide against for the future. The
long and short of it is said he that we
must be as strong as we possibly can be in
these days. We have the capability of being stronger than
any other nation of equal population in the world, and
it would be a crime if we did not use

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this capability. We must make still greater exertions than other
powers for the same ends. On account of our geographical position.
We lie in the midst of Europe. We have at
least three sides open to attack. God has placed on
one side of us, the French a most warlike and
restless nation, and he has allowed the fighting tendencies of
Russia to become great. So we are forced into measures

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which perhaps we would not otherwise make. And the very
strength for which we strive shows that we are inclined
to peace. For with such a powerful machine as we
wish to make the German army, no one would undertake
to attack us. We Germans fear God but nothing else
in the world, and it is the fear of God
which causes us to love and cherish peace. Such was

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the avowed policy of Bismarck, and I believe in his
sincerity to foster friendly relations with other nations and to
maintain peace for the interests of humanity as well as
for Germany, which can be secured only by preparing for war,
and with such an array of forces as to secure victory.
It was not with foreign powers that he had the
greatest difficulty, but to manage the turbulent elements of internal

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hostilities and jealousies, and oppose the anarchic forces of doctrinaires,
visionary dreamers, clerical aggressors and socialistic incendiaries foes alike of
a stable government and of ultimate progress. In the management
of the eternal affairs of the empire, he cannot be
said to have been as successful as was Cavour in Italy.

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He was not in harmony with the spirit of the age,
nor was he wise His persistent opposition to the freedom
of the press was as great an error as his
persecution of the Catholics, and his insatiable love of power
grasping all the great offering phis of the state was
a serious offense in the eyes of a jealous master,
the present emperor, whom he did not take sufficient pains

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to conciliate. The greatness of Bismarck was not as administrator
of an empire, but rather as the creator of an empire,
and which he raised to greatness by diplomatic skill. His
distinguishable excellence was in the management of foreign affairs, and
in this power he has never been surpassed by any
foreign minister. Contrary to all calculations, this great, proud man,

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who has ruled Germany with so firm a hand for
thirty years, and whose services have been unparalleled in the
history of statesmen, was not too high to fall. But
he fell because a young, inexperienced and ambitious sovereign, apt
pupil of his own in the divine right of monarchs
to govern, and yet seemingly inspired by a keen sensitiveness

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to his people's wants and the spirit of the age,
could not endure his commanding ascendency and haughty dictation, and
accepted his resignation offered in a moment of pique. He
fell even as Wolsey fell before Henry the eighth, too
great a man for a subject, yet always loyal to
the principles of legitimacy and the will of his sovereign.
But he retired at the age of seventy five with

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princely estates, unexampled honors, and the admiration and gratitude of
his countrymen, with the consciousness of having elevated them to
the proudest position in continental Europe. The aged Emperor William
the First died in eighteen eighty eight, full of years
and of honors. His son, the Emperor Friederic, died a
few months later, leaving a deep respect in a genuine sorrow.

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The grandson, the present Emperor, William the Second, has been
called a modern man, notwithstanding certain proclivities which still adhere
to him. Like pieces of the shell of an egg
from which the bird has issued. He is yet an
unsolved problem, but may be regarded not without hope, for
a wise, strong and useful reign. The builder of his

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country's greatness, however, was too deeply enshrined in the hearts
of his countrymen to remain in shadow. After more than
three years of retirement, Bismarck received from the young Emperor
on January twenty sixth, eighteen ninety four, an invitation to
visit the Imperial Palace in Berlin. His journey and reception
in the capital were the occasion of tumultuous public rejoicings,

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and when the Emperor met him the reconciliation was complete.
The time warned veteran did not again assume office, but
he was the frequent recipient of appreciative mention by the
Kaiser in public rescripts and speeches, and on his seventy
ninth birthday April first, eighteen ninety four, he received from
the Emperor a greeting by letter and a steel cuirass

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as a symbol of the German gratitude. On the same day,
the castle at friedrich schrou was filled with rare and
costly presence from all over Germany, and Bismarck banquets were
held in all the principal cities. It was well that
before this grand figure passed away forever, the German gratitude
to him should have found expression again, especially from the Sovereign,

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who owed to the Great Chancellor he his own peculiar
eminence in the earth. As for Prince Bismarck, with all
his faults, and no man is perfect, I love and
honor this courageous giant, who has, under such vexatious opposition,
secured the glory of the Prussian monarchy and the unity
of Germany, who has been conscientious in the discharge of

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his duties as he has understood them in the fear
of God. A modern Cromwell in another cause, whose fame
will increase with the advancing ages. Authorities. Professor Seely's Life
of stein Ezekiel's Biography of Bismarck, and the Life of
Prince Bismarck by Charles Lowe are the books to which

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I am most indebted for the compilation of this chapter.
But one may profitably read the various histories of the
Franco Prussian War. The Life of Prince Hardenberg, the Life
of Moltke, the Life of Scharnhorst, and the life of
William van Humboldt. An excellent abridgment of German history during
the century is furnished by Professor Mueller. Each of Prince

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Bismarck in the German Reichstag, February eighteen eighty eight. I
have found very instructive and interesting a sort of resume
of his own political life. End of section seventeen